It is not easy being a black dog in a shelter. And if you are a sizable pooch–mutt or purebred, your chances decrease with every inch.

Simply said—black dogs are passed up by even the well-meaning folks searching humane societies and shelters for their next best friend. Why? Many say it’s because it’s not as easy to see the expression in their eyes. The eyes–the windows into both the human and canine soul aren’t easily distinguished in a pitch black face. People are looking for that friendly expressive face, and it is the eyes that often attract us. Bright, intelligent, friendly, happy–these are things we seek in the eyes of our companions–and it’s hard to see these things in the eyes of a black dog.

Many, if not most of these black dogs, if they are large, are Labrador retrievers or crosses of every imaginable kind. And this is just simply because Labradors are a hugely popular breed and thereby , just because of their numbers—they are prevalent in shelters as well. Most have had little or no training–which can be a problem in a large dog.

So, combine a black fur coat with a large and intimidating size—you’re one lucky black dog if you are chosen for adoption. It might have been a very eager wagging tail that caught the eye, and heart of a prospective adopter.

Luckily for the black dogs in shelters and programs that participate in the prison dogs programs–their color is not held against them. They are on equal footing with the rest of the hopeful, yet anxious dogs. Big, small, white, black, yellow, red, spotted, handicapped or unattractive—it doesn’t matter–if the dog is considered to be redeemable via some good training and socialization, he or she is given a second chance.

So, the next time you might be considering a shelter dog, give the black dog a chance. Take a long hard look into those eyes. They hold the same potential for love, hope, intelligence, companionship and happiness as the cute blonds, redheads and multi-color cellmates of that black dog!

Tags: black dogs, shelter dogs

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 5:33 pm and is filed under Prison Dogs Book, Success Stories, The Dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.